Disclaimer: I own nothing... except for the original characters.

Author's Note: Here we are again! Chapter Twenty-Five! WOOT! :) I hope you all enjoy it!

"Hey Chance, you mind grabbing some socks for me?"

Silence.

"Chance?"

Once again, no response. Absolutely nothing.

Erica stood up from packing her suitcase, clicked her tongue and sighed. She waited patiently for a sign that her dog was listening but nothing came. It was quiet. That's weird. He always responds. She paused in her packing and called to her dog again.

"Chance? Are you even listening to me?"

The dog still did not bark, yip, or whine.

Confused, Erica zipped up her suitcase and looked over to Chance who lay sleeping on her bed. Shaking her head with a smile, she hopped on the mattress and ran her fingers over his back. He whimpered, causing his hind leg to twitch. She scratched behind his ears and woke him from his slumber. Chance yipped and licked at her hand. Erica patted her companion on the head and then flopped backwards, laying her arms out spread eagle.

"I know, buddy. It's been a hell of a few days, huh?"

Chance licked Erica's hand again and nuzzled her wrist. The teen rolled over onto her stomach and stared down at the Border Collie with a smile.

"I'll be back soon, boy. Don't worry; you won't even miss me." she said as she continued to rub Chance's ears. The Border Collie barked and licked her cheek. Erica buried her face into his fur and held onto him.

She was just about to roll back onto her side when she heard tapping from behind her. She huffed, thinking that it was Myra trying to be funny again with her 'I'm a Stalker in the Tree' stunt but she was sadly mistaken as she turned around. This is not happening. I'm dreaming. Instead, she was met with a single bright blue optic that stared at her through her window. She noticed the black and gray paintjob which meant that Bluestreak had come for a visit. At least he wasn't in that damn holoform of his. It was a good thing too that her foster parents were gone; they would have flipped out on sight.

Great. What does he want now? Erica frowned. She narrowed her eyes and shook her head. Of all the giant robots in the world, it had to be him. She climbed off her bed and stalked over to the window, throwing it open, afterwards folding her arms over her chest, leaning against the sill.

"Alright, what do you want now Bluestreak?" she asked impatiently.

The Cybertronian looked uncomfortable as he took a step back fiddling with his servos. He knew he didn't belong there. Hell, the last time they had parted ways, was under some uncomfortable circumstances. Which to be honest, she admitted guiltily was not exactly all his fault.

"I know I am the last mech you want to see at the moment and probably want to throw something at me, but hear me out please, you need to come back to base with me. I really don't have time to answer any questions because all I do know is that you're in serious danger if you go to that tournament of yours." The gunner rambled.

Erica quirked a brow. Since when did he know about that tournament in Vegas? She shook that thought to the back of her head and scoffed. "No! You're kidding right? There is no way I'm going with you! The last time I got into a car with you - "

Bluestreak vented in exasperation and rolled his optics as he cut her off. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Some crazy stuff happened that made you question your mental state. But you have to look past that right now! I'm really only trying to keep you safe!"

The blonde wasn't convinced about the whole 'safe part.' Especially not when she had been involved in several heart-pounding and terrifying chases that included killer robots. She looked to the bed where Chance lay. He was staring at Bluestreak with an intensity that almost read as 'who are you and why do you sound familiar?' Probably the only reason why he was not growling. Erica glanced over to the Autobot and then climbed out of the window to reach for the roof. She sat down in front of Bluestreak and drew her knees up to her chest.

"You are really lucky that my foster parents aren't here," she muttered. "I'd be thrown back into foster care if they saw you standing in their backyard."

He had the gall to cheekily grin at her. "Well, it's a good thing they aren't home then, right?"

I'm going to kill him.

Erica shot a glare in response to Bluestreak's attempt of lightening the mood who in turn shrunk back.

"You know, I don't even know why I'm allowing myself to sit on my roof and listen to you," she stated running a hand through her hair. "In fact, I should just climb down, go into my room, and ignore you all together!"

"But you won't."

The blonde looked up at Bluestreak. She saw something that she had not seen before. He looked, well, genuinely concerned, as if something weighed heavily on his mind. Maybe he did care about her well-being. But it didn't ease her mind. She simply sat there, staring at him in disbelief.

Before long she sighed and shook her head. "Look I'm sorry but you can't stop me from going to this tournament, Blue. I already let down my team last year and I'm not making the same mistake twice."

Bluestreak looked desperate. "I'm trying to protect you Erica; it's my job. And you're not letting me do said job. Besides what do you owe your team? You've made it clear that you don't want to go to this tournament — "

"I didn't ask to be dragged into this! Or get protected by giant alien robots who get chased by other bigger robots!" Erica exploded. "I just want a normal teenage life! School! Grades! Drama! Myra! Don't you understand that? Even if I don't want to play basketball for the rest of my life, it's still better than being stuck in a damn intergalactic war! I just - " The blonde ran a hand through her hair and swallowed. "I just want to be normal. Is that too much to ask?"

"If you wanted to live a normal life so bad, why did you invite me, a complete stranger, for dinner?" The Autobot asked giving her a pointed look.

Erica's face turned a bright red. Is he seriously trying to pin this on me? Flustered, she began to fumble over her words and then huffed, folding her arms over her chest.

"Because I was hoping that perhaps my date wouldn't bail out on me, but you know what it turns out he did!" She had a scowl on her face when she glared at him. "And plus how was I to know he was a giant alien robot in disguise?!"

Bluestreak coughed uncomfortably before spreading his hands out in a surrendering motion. "... Alright, I'll give you that one. For the record I'm sorry for that occurring but I was under a strained time limit."

Erica stared at him.

"Wait, did you just say that you were under a 'strained time limit'?" she repeated slowly.

Bluestreak quirked an optic ridge. "Uhm… Yes?"

You've got to be kidding me. "That's what I thought." The blonde teen snapped bitterly. She climbed down the roof and through her window, shaking her head.

"Oh no you don't!"

The Autobot gunner was quick to grab Erica by the back of her shirt. And that was his first mistake. The blonde screamed, kicked, and cursed on the top of her lungs. She looked down, eyes bugged out, and screeched. Chance jumped from the bed to the window and began to bark and growl at Bluestreak. The gunner dropped the girl into the palm of his servo and shook his head. Erica leapt to her feet and clung onto Bluestreak's thumb, burying her face into the metal.

"Put me down you robotic psychopath! I refuse to listen to whatever the hell you have to say to me!"

Bluestreak sighed and shook his head.

"You have to listen to what I have to say, please Erica."

"NO!" she barked. "PUT ME DOWN!"

"Erica," he whispered. "Please, just listen to me."

The girl said nothing to him. She simply shook her head in response. The gunner felt he was running out of options and time. Why couldn't she just see that he was trying to help her? But deep down, he knew that Erica was not going to listen to him; she was too stubborn for her own good. And too scared. Bluestreak winced at that last one. He contemplated over his options and eventually placed Erica back on the roof, even if it was girl looked up at the gunner, her eyes seething with rage and disappointment, and stabbed her finger at him.

"I am only going to say this once, I don't want anything to do with you or your team or your damn war! I have had it!" she said. Her eyes filled with tears. She dropped her hand and sucked in a deep breath. "I never want to see you again. I want you to leave and never, ever come back. Stay away from me and my family or you will certainly regret it."

Bluestreak felt as if a sword had gone through his spark. It was painful. It was bitter. And most of all, those words never stopped echoing in his processor. It was as if they were mocking him. Taunting him almost. Bluestreak wordlessly nodded before backing out of her backyard, though it did not escape Erica's notice of how grief ridden he looked, as if he just signed someone's death warrant.

Erica stood on the roof for some time. It was quiet up there. Almost too quiet for her. It did not take long before the words finally sunk into her skin. What the hell did I just do? She felt her knees buckle and crumple underneath her weight, causing her to fall onto the roof. Her hands trembled in front of her. She felt her whole body begin to shake as she brought her knees up to her chest and began to sob. She buried her face into her knees and cried as a repeated mantra echoed in her brain.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry…

Blast it all to hell. Myra winced as she daintily touched the slowly forming bruise around her eye. Never ride with a robot inexperienced with human traffic laws or else you are eating steering wheel when they suddenly decide to brake. Okay yeah it was partially her fault for not giving a head's up that she wanted to stop at the pool, but damn she didn't realize how fast he was going. Cursing under her breath, she switched her over-packed duffel bag to the other arm to close the door on her car, contemplating scratching some high end paint jobs. Or giving Optimus an earful for making her ride with the newbies.

Come to think of it… Scratching paint jobs is more my style, she thought with a smirk on her lips. If it was one thing she was good at, it was payback. And just imagining the indignant yelling from those two buffoons was pure gold. Music to my ears.

Grabbing the rest of her stuff and locking the doors afterwards she made her way up the driveway to Erica's place. It was really weird though expecting her car to just drive on its own for her, but then realizing after a couple of minutes it was just a normal Honda Accord and not some extraterrestrial robot being. With an accent, the very back of her mind lamented. This made her pause before shaking her head. The hell did that come from? Pushing that thought back, she made her way to the door to ring the doorbell.

Erica furiously wiped away another tear and sat down on her bed. It had been over an hour since Bluestreak came and left. The girl could still feel her bones vibrating after all she had said, well, yelled to him. The blonde ran a hand through her hair and laid back onto her bed. She looked up at the ceiling before she rolled over onto her side and curled into a ball.

"Erica?" It was Brian.

The teen sat up and looked over at her foster father. "Yeah?"

"Your coach sent us an email and said that she wants everyone to meet at the school this afternoon. Said also to have all of your stuff packed and ready to go." he said.

Erica nodded and then flopped back onto the bed. "Thanks."

Brian walked into the room and sat down on the bed next to the teen. She felt the bed dip down with the added weight but did not move. Instead, Brian leaned down and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. The blonde quickly wrapped her arms around Brian's neck, burying her face into the crook of his neck. Brian nearly fell forward in surprise but was quick to wrap his arms around the girl and catch her. He shifted his position to where Erica was almost laying in his lap, as if she was a child again.

"Boys are stupid." she muttered.

Brian chuckled and broke the embrace. "Yeah, I know. Boys are pretty stupid," He tucked a strand of blonde hair behind Erica's ear and kissed her head again. "Listen, don't let this guy ruin this tournament for you. You've put in a lot of work to get here and I know that one boy isn't going to stop you, alright?"

Erica nodded. "Thanks Brian."

"Anytime." And with that said, Brian got up from the bed and left the room.

Though as soon as Brian left, Myra squeezed past, braking to a stop when she saw Erica. The blonde rubbed her eyes and looked up in surprise that her friend was here already. Both shared similar expressions on their face and pointed to one another.

"What happened to you?" They asked in unison then stopped.

Erica recovered first."You look like you just got socked in the face by a basketball," she said with a tilt of her head. "Or a controller was thrown at you."

Myra scowled making the bruise stand out even worse."Three words: Sideswipe and Steering wheel."

That made the blonde's eyebrows shoot up in surprise."The crazy colored one that came in the other day? I can't believe Mirage let you ride with him."

"Well he didn't have much of a choice since it was Optimus that relayed the order and Ratchet holding the wrench." The teenager blew a strand of hair out of her face. "But enough about me. You look like you have been crying."

"Do I really look that bad?" Erica murmured, plucking at her shirt absentmindedly.

"Honey you look like someone either broke your heart or just strangled a puppy in front of you." She grimaced when she saw her friend's dog perk his head up. "Er- sorry Chance." To compensate, she threw him another bone which he happily ate.

Her friend didn't respond until she rubbed a hand over her face. "It's… a long story."

"I've got time." Myra crossed her arms, leaning against the doorjamb.

"No." She fervently shook her head, sounding miserable. "It... just isn't the right time to talk about it." By the way her head was bowed, how red her eyes were, and why she was so reluctant to talk about it, Myra kind of already had a notion as to who and what it was. Usually she would push until Erica gave in, but that didn't really seem appropriate at the moment. Besides, with possible ears right around the corner...

"Hmmm…" She narrowed her eyes thinking, the dawning of an idea forming in her mind. "Wait here." She disappeared around the corner, much to Erica's surprise, only to come back a few minutes later with a wrapped candy bar. "Emergency Depression Relieving Chocolate just for you."

The blonde managed a smile as she was thrown a piece. She took a bite of the chocolate and pointed to Myra. "And this is exactly why you are my best friend."

A/N: Alright, that's it for this chapter! Things are starting to get really interesting! And looks like things between Erica and Bluestreak are looking sour... Please review and let me know what you guys think! Until the next chapter!